The Times-Tribune from Scranton, Pennsylvania • 3

I CAL SCRANTON, PA MONDAY, AUGUST 28, 1995 PAGES (The Scranton Dmt0 Suspect Sought in' Concert Stabbing Victim in Stable Condition .,1 Cops Knew Murder Suspect The woman charged in the fatal stabbing of William R. Williams had worked as a prostitute and once told police she robbed her customers at knifepoint, city police said. Tameka Deanna Flowers, 21, of 828 Prescott is being held without bail in the Lackawan County Prison, pending a preliminary hearing Sept. 5 in Central Court, Deputy Police Chief James Klee said Flowers was working as a prostitute but not in the case involving Williams and had previously been arrested by city police. Williams, 24.

of rear 701 S. Main was stabbed once in the heart with a kitchen knife Aug. 20 at his apartment after he, Flowers and a third person Shared cocaine the victim purchased earlier in the day, police Investigators say Flowers then robbed Williams of several hundred dollars, and later used v' BY DAVID SINQLETON THE SCRANTON TIMES City police still were searching today for a suspect in the stabbing of a South Scranton man during Sunday nights Van Halen concert at the Montage Performing Arts Center. Ralph Sparaney, 24, of 1025 Cedar was listed in guarded but stable condition this morning at Community Medical Center with a knife wound to the back, a hospital spokeswoman said. The incident marred what was otherwise a spectacular evening for Montage.

The Van Halen concert drew more than 12,500 fans, the largest crowd of the 1995 season and the third largest in the venues history. Sparaney, who is a nephew of Scranton police Detective Robert Sparaney, was stabbed just as Van Halen was taking the stage around 9 p.m. A woman who was with Sparaney, speaking on the condition that she not be identified, said she and Sparaney were heading to the beer tent when a longhaired youth came up and began pushing Sparaney around. He had a chip on his shoulder, the woman said. As Sparaney and the youth exchanged shoves, she said, the youth grabbed Sparaneys right arm and twisted it behind his back, causing Sparaney to bend down.

He was then stabbed. At first Sparaney did not realize he had been knifed. When he realized what had happened, he ran for help. City police have issued an alert for a white male in his mid-to late 20s with long dark hair. The suspect is described as about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds, At the time of the stabbing, he was wearing a red bandana on his head and a tie-dyed T-shirt with no sleeves.

A young woman with frizzy, short blond hair also was being sought. Police Chief George J. Murphy said that in addition to being stabbed in the back near the kidney, Sparaney also suffered a defensive wound to the hand. Lackawanna County spokesman Bill Risse said on-scene medical personnel treated Spara- ii Sketchof suspect ney and took him to CMC. Risse said the stabbing was the first major incidence of violence in four concert seasons at Montage.

Any time you have a large number of people, youre going to have some incidents, he said. We have not have had problems because the people who come here, by and large, have not come to cahse problems. The vast majority come to have a good time and go home safely. Because of the anticipated large crowd for Van Halen, regular security measures were bolstered by the addition of five Scranton police officers, Risse said. In addition.

Metropolitan Entertainment the concert promoter, had a security force and Fine Host the concessionaire, had extra security around the beer tent. State Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement officers were at the scene, Risse said, along with personnel from Security Systems International, a local private detective agency. We have fairly heavy security as it is, he said. City police and detectives joined sheriffs deputies and county detectives at the concert scene to interview witnesses. Police also stopped and checked vehicles as concert-goers left the parking lot.

The sie of the Van Hiien crowd was third only to the Lollapalooza concert, which drew 17,000 people in 1992, and a 1994 concert by attracted 15,000 fans. Sundays concert kicked off what will be one of the busiest periods ever for Montage, with four more concerts scheduled over the next eight days. The Bon Jovi concert on Tuesday will be followed by Boyz II Men on Thursday, Bad Company and Ted Nugent on Friday and Julio Iglesias on Labor Day. Increased harvesting has reduced prices for the wood somewhat, he said. Consideration should be given to hiring a private consulting forester to ensure that a Please see DEFOLIATION, Page 4 ED LYNETT THE SCRANTON TIMES When the trooper asked her, (Flowers) why she was carrying the knife, I she told him that she would cut them with the knife, take their money and go.

Mice affidavit the money to buy drugs. According to a police affidavit In the Williams killing, State Trooper Kurt Szczecinski of Troop once arrested Flowers and found her in possession of a knife. The affidavit did not say when the arrest occurred. When1 the trooper asked her why she was carrying the knife, she told him that she would have done the same thing to him that does to all the guys: she would wait until their pants were down, cut -them with the knife, take their money and go, the affidavit said. This happens so many times, said Klee, who has been waging a war on prostitution in Central City.

When a prostitute robs a client, police rarely hear about it. "They're not going to be embarrassed when theyre ripped Off or shaken down by a hooker, Klee said. He said the crime is not reported because 99 percent of the time the client who is yipped off is a married man. After-her arrest Saturday night, Flowers was arraigned before District Justice Carmen Minora on first-, second- and third-degree murder, robbery and other charges. Eddie Van Halen jams on Montage Mountain Sunday.

The Van than 12,500 fans, the largest crowd of the 1995 season and history, was marred by the stabbing of a city man. ED LYNETT THE SCRANTON TIMES Halen concert, which drew more the third-largest in the venue's Thousands of Acres Defoliated in Regions Woodlands Insects Are Responsible for Damage Undoubtedly, the' species of tree suffering the most was the sugar maple, TONY SANTOLI District forester acres. The insect populations appeared to be collapsing or dying in areas that had been heavily defoliated last year and this year. Bureau of Forestry personnel will be checking other areas where defoliation was not as severe. Undoubtedly, the species of tree suffering the most was the sugar maple, Santoli said.

Not only was this species defoliated by insects, but it was also attacked by the anthracnose ftm-gus, especially in 1994. Many of the sugar maples died last year and more deaths are Insect Expert Disputes Time Prosecutors Sav Loomis Died Susquehanna, Wyoming, Wayne and Lackawanna counties have found native insects such as the forest tent caterpillar, eastern tent caterpillar, fall canker-worm and elm spanworm were active on 479,000 woodland acres. Total acres defoliated include: Susquehanna County: acres, Wyoming County: 119,000 acres. Wayne County: 90,000 acres. Lackawanna County: 10,000 killed on April 11, he testified.

The preferred sites of fly colonization are the nose, mouth and eyes, in addition to any sites of trauma, Haskell said. He referred to photographs of the murder scene that show that Loomis face is not submerged in water, and said flies would have had immediate accessibility. Haskell said the lower level of temperatures at which blow flies hatch from their winter larvae stage are around 48 to 50 degrees. I believe if he had been there from the date in question, he would have had blow fly eggs in the nose, mouth and eyes, Haskell testified. But Loomis autopsy reports showed no Indications of any fly infestation.

Please see YOUNO, Page 4 BY RICH MATES THE SCRANTON TIMES Forests across Northeastern Pennsylvania have faced triple trouble this year: brittle-dry conditions, a high fire risk and insatiable insects. Nearly half a million acres of trees have been defoliated by various insects this summer, with more than half the damage in Susquehanna County, according to District Forester Tony Santoli. Aerial surveys of defoliation in Young and Slick are being tried in Lackawanna County Court for the April 1979 murder of Loomis, who prosecutors contend was killed because he was cooperating with authorities looking into Youngs business activities. Loomis body was found Jying in the creek in the Aston Mountain area of Springbrook Twp. Haskell testified for the defense, saying that weather conditions were favorable by April 1979 for blow flies, which typically are attracted to decaying flesh, to be present Loomis body was not totally submerged in the creek, so the-parts that were exposed should have attracted the flies, it he had indeed been expected.

Wayne, Susquehanna and Lackawanna counties sugar maples suffered the most. The bureau recommends land-owners harvest the trees killed by the fiingus as soon as possible. If property owners wait too long, the wood will be stained. O' Says Photos Should Show Evidence of Flies BY KRISTIN WINTERMANTEL THE SCRANTON TIMES An insect expert testified this morning in the Richard Young land William Slick murder trial that Russell Loomis could not have been killed and left in Painters Creek prior to April 13, 1979. Dr.

Neal Haskell, a forensic entomologist, said he reviewed autopsy photographs and reports, meteorological data and Various other information and Concluded that there were no eggs, larvae or adult blow flies found on Loomis body. I If he had been killed on April. 11, as the prosecution contends, there should have been some insect infestation, he said. IVcIcomisrt Guo Patrice Vega, left, and Julie Rio draw with chalk on the parking lot at St Gregory's Church jn Clark's Gresn as the church hosted a fiesta for area migrant workers Sunday. 1.